Child may have witnessed murder-suicide

DECATUR - DeKalb County police have released the names of the people killed in an apparent murder-suicide that they think a 5-year-old boy may have witnessed.

Police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said authorities believe the man, 30-year-old Gerry Jones, was the shooter. Police have identified the woman as 26-year-old Shaketa Dotson.

Parish said the boy knocked on a neighbor's door Sunday and asked for help. She said the child led the neighbor to his home, where a woman and her boyfriend were found dead from gunshot wounds.

Parish said a 9-month-old infant, who was the couple's daughter, was in the home but was not injured. The 5-year-old was Dotson's child from a previous relationship. Parish said he, also, was not injured.

Both children are in state custody.

Parish said both children were in the home at the time of the shooting, but it's not immediately known if either of them saw the shooting.

Parish said the shooting appears to have been the result of a domestic dispute, though the couple did not have a history of previous domestic problems.